Property Rights & 'Wise Use'

Two reports, one from the EPA and another from the Washington University Law School, that discuss wetlands regulations at length, providing information about many high profile cases that contrast markedly from their portrayals in ultra-conservative forums.

This is a reprint from Info Pollution of a July 1995 report to Congress by Sen. John Glenn presenting the results of an investigation by the Governmental Affairs Committee into allegations of regulatory abuse which concluded that nearly every reported incident was either grossly exaggerated or urban legend. Glenn headed the Committee at the time.

These two Reports discuss the case of John Pozsgai, a Buck County, PA businessman who was arrested and fined for repeated wetlands destruction violations and who has since become a patron saint for Property Rights extremists. Both were drawn largely from county records and eyewitness information. Not surprisingly, they differ markedly from portrayals of the incident in ultra-conservative forums.

This is a research paper on the "Wise Use" movement from Public Eye—a public interest research groups that investigates political subcultures and their activities. The Wise Use movement is a nationwide network of industry lobbies and grassroots front groups that originated during the 80's as an offshoot of the "Sagebrush Rebellion" in rural America. They are known for their militantly antienvironmental and anti-government ideologies and confrontational tactics.